EDA extends sales growth streak

SAN FRANCISCO—EDA revenue grew to $1.59 billion in the second quarter, up 11 percent from the second quarter of 2011, according to the EDA Consortium (EDAC).

The second quarter marked the seventh time in the past eight quarters that EDAC has posted double digit percentage growth compared with the year-ago quarter, according to Walden Rhines, chairman and CEO of Mentor Graphics Corp. and a board member of EDAC.

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On a sequential basis, EDA revenue grew by 3 percent compared with the first quarter, EDAC said. The four quarter moving average of revenue—which compares the most recent four quarters to the prior four quarters—improved by 12 percent in the second quarter, EDAC said.

Rhines said posting double digit revenue gains in seven of the past eight quarters is unusual for EDA over the past decade. But over the course of EDA's history, such a string is not atypical, Rhines said.

Second quarter EDA revenue growth was broad-based, with revenue increasing year-to-year across all geographies and across nearly all of the product categories tracked by EDAC.

"Growth was driven by North America and Asia/Pacific, although all regions were positive, Rhines said. "[Computer aided design], IC physical design, and semiconductor IP all showed double-digit increases."

EDAC also announced that the total number of people employed by EDA firms grew to a record high in the second quarter. Companies that were tracked employed 28,205 people in the second quarter, up 6 percent from the year ago quarter, breaking the record of 28,176 reported in the second quarter of 2008.

Sales in EDA's largest category, computer aided design, grew to $618.4 million in the second quarter, up 13 percent from the second quarter of 2011, EDAC said. IC physical design and verification sales improved by 14 percent year-over-year, as did semiconductor IP sales, EDAC said.

Revenue grew by 13 percent year-over-year in the Americas region, by 1.8 percent in Japan, 18 percent in the Asia/Pacific region and 6 percent in Europe, the Middle East and Africa, EDAC said.Related stories: